


Put A Ring On It

by somebodywakeuphicks



Series: Joyce and Hopper Need Each Other-One Shots [9]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Daddy/Daughter bonding, F/M, Hopper is learning how to handle teenage rebellion, I just realized Joyce isn't even in this, Joyce and Hopper are meant to be, Sneaking Around, teenage mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 16:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13574763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somebodywakeuphicks/pseuds/somebodywakeuphicks
Summary: Hopper and El shop for an engagement ring together. El makes stupid teenage mistakes.





	Put A Ring On It

**Author's Note:**

> This is the ninth work in a sequence of Jopper one shots.
> 
> All stories in this series will have different ratings, so please be aware of that. They may involve different characters and POV, but they are all centered on Hopper and Joyce's relationship in some way.

_El Hopper_

 

“Hop—”

“ _Jesus_ , kid! Don’t sneak up on a guy like that!” Hopper yelled.

“Sorry,” El said. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? Flipping through the phone book.”

“Why is that bad?

“It’s not.” Hopper glanced around the living room of the Byers home. “Where’s Joyce?”

“Grocery shopping.”

“Perfect,” he said, leaning in toward El and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Can you keep a secret?”

El nodded. 

“Come sit down.” Hopper sat, then patted the spot next to him on the couch, which El took. “I’m looking up jewelry stores.”

“Why?”

A boyish grin appeared on Hopper’s face. “I’m going to propose to Joyce,” he whispered. 

“Propose?”

“I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

El smiled shyly. She had some idea of what that meant. She knew Mike’s parents were married. She knew it made people family. She wasn’t sure what it meant for her, exactly. Most of all, she didn’t know what a jewelry store had to do with the whole matter.

“What’re you thinking about?” Hopper asked.

“Why a jewelry store?”

“Well, when someone proposes, they usually buy the person a ring. So I’m going to go ring shopping, and I want you to come with and help me pick it out.”

El grinned. “I am happy about that.”

Hopper smiled. “Me, too. I’m so excited about this, kid. I’ve never been more sure about anything.”

That weekend, Hopper told Joyce he and El were going out for some father/daughter bonding time. They headed for Indianapolis, and when El asked why, Hopper told her that they needed to keep it a secret, which would be near impossible if they shopped in town. Hawkins only had one jewelry store, anyway. 

After Hopper took El out for lunch at the fanciest restaurant she’d ever been to, the pair headed to the first jewelry store. When El stepped through the door, she whirled around, staring wide-eyed at chandeliers suspended from the ceiling, rich, mahogany cases, and countless gems, all catching the light through the glass. “Wow,” she breathed.

Hopper chuckled. “Right? Where should we start?

An employee stepped out from the back room. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. We’re looking for engagement rings,” Hopper said.

“Absolutely. Follow me.” The woman led them to a case filled with rings of various shapes and sizes. 

“See anything you like?” Hopper asked El.

To be honest, she liked everything, but nothing really said _Joyce_ to her. She looked at Hopper.

“Yeah, me neither.” He smirked. “Thanks, anyway,” he told the woman. As he and El got back in the Blazer, Hopper turned to El. “Next store?”

She nodded.

“Just out of curiosity, and so we’re on the same page, what didn’t you like about those?”

El thought for a moment. “Pretty, but not…”

“Special?” Hopper asked.

“Yes.” Most were shaped like circles or teardrops. Some were gold, while others contained silver-colored bands. Many featured one diamond, and still others were covered in tinier stones surrounding the prominent diamond. But nothing stood out.

They had the same problem at the next store, even smaller than the first. 

At store number three, Hopper tried a few rings on El’s smaller fingers, much to the disfavor of the employee. “That guy was weird,” Hopper said, as they got into the truck.

The search had worn El out by the time they made it to store number six. She wasn’t sure they’d ever find the perfect ring. Maybe she was too picky. But as she walked up to the Victorian home-turned business and stepped inside, hopefulness overtook her. Each room, brightly lit, contained various types of jewelry. Watches in one. Necklaces in another. When she wandered into a room lined with marble cases and featuring lace-like ceiling tiles, she saw it. A breathtaking ring that didn’t boast a diamond at all. The deep blue stone sparkled as she gazed at it through the glass. 

“Ah, you’ve spotted a beauty,” a man behind her said. “This ring features a 6x6mm cushion cut blue sapphire in vintage floral setting studded with brilliant diamonds. The diamond scalloped band comes in white gold, and all the diamonds are round brilliant cut with a total diamond weight of 0.32 carats.” 

El had no clue what that all meant. She only knew that _this_ ring said Joyce to her. 

“You like that one, huh?” Hopper asked El. He looked at the employee. “Can we see it?”

“Definitely.” The man pulled the ring out of the case and handed it to Hopper. 

Hopper turned the ring over, examining it as El watched. “You wanna see it?” he asked her. She nodded, and he placed it into her hand. El ran her fingers over the sapphire and the scalloped edges of the band. She slid it onto her ring finger, but it flopped around as she turned her hand. “What size is this?” Hopper asked. 

“Six, but they are made to order, so you can get whatever size you need.”

Hopper broke into a shaky smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners as they met El’s. “I think this is the one, kid.”

“I think so, too.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but is this your daughter?” the employee asked.

“Yeah,” Hopper answered.

“I think it’s really special that she’s helping you pick out a ring. It speaks volumes about your relationship, and that’s important, especially with a big change such as this.”

“Oh, she didn’t just help me pick out the ring. She helped me pick out the woman!” They both had a laugh about that. Hopper made arrangements with the employee, ordering a size 4 for Joyce’s slender fingers and a matching scalloped wedding band. The man estimated about two weeks for the ring to come in. 

On the drive home, El had a lot of questions. “When will you propose?” she asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I want to wait until I feel like the time is right.”

“How do you know if the time is right?”

“I just will. It won’t be for at least another two weeks, since I don’t have the ring,” Hopper said.

“Why do people get married if it is not forever?”

Hopper grunted. “Whoa, we going deep here? Okay. Um, I think most people want it to be forever. But sometimes things happen, and the couple grows apart.”

“Is that what happened to you?” El asked.

“Yeah, kind of. After Sara wasn’t with us, anymore, Diane and I didn’t handle it well. Grief and all that. I really messed it up, mostly. I shut down and made some bad choices and caused her even more grief. Eventually, she wouldn’t put up with it, anymore, and she left.”

El nodded, taking it in. “And Joyce? What about Will’s dad?”

“In some situations, you marry someone thinking the person you’re marrying is good, or at least you tell yourself that. And sometimes, that person is really not such a good person.”

“Did you end up not such a good person?”

“Wow, El. These questions today. Um, yeah, I suppose I did. Not in that same way as Will’s dad, but I hurt Diane unnecessarily.” 

“But you won’t hurt Joyce?”

Hopper scratched the back of his head, then ran his hand down his face. “Uh, I hope not. I’ll try my best not to. I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two.”

“Good. I don’t want you to hurt her, either.”

***

“Hey, El. Come in here for a minute.” Hopper led El into Joyce and his bedroom, closing the door. He pulled a black, velvet box out of his coat pocket. “I got the ring!” El about squealed, but Hopper shushed her. “I don’t know where she is right now. It’s very important you understand this is a surprise. Don’t tell anyone. Got it?”

El nodded.

“I need to keep Joyce from finding it, so I think I’m gonna hide it in my suit coat pocket in the closet. I don’t think she’d have any reason to go digging in there.”

El smiled. “Do you know when, yet?”

“No. Valentine’s Day is in two weeks, but that’s cliche. I don’t want to do it then.”

“Cliche?”

“Overdone.”

“Oh.” El’s thoughts drifted to Mike, and she wondered if he had anything planned for Valentine’s Day. 

“Well, I work today, so I’ll see you when I get home,” Hopper said, ushering El out of his bedroom. “And remember, don’t blow the surprise.”

El saluted. “Got it.”

A week later, though, El’s patience wore thin. It was Saturday, and she had plans to meet the gang at Mike’s house. Joyce was supposed to drive Will and her, but she was in the shower. El thought about the ring. She hadn’t looked at it in awhile. Surely, Hopper wouldn’t mind if she just looked at it. She made her way to Joyce’s room, sliding the door open and creeping in. When El stepped over to the closet, she rifled through Hopper’s clothes until she came to his suit coat. Reaching inside, she touched the sleek, velvet exterior of the box and pulled it out, cracking it open. She admired the ring, just as beautiful as she remembered it. She so desperately wanted to show Mike, and it had just about killed her that she hadn’t spoken a word to Will about it. 

 _Hopper is at work. He will not miss it_ , El thought. If she swore her friends to secrecy, surely it would be okay. She shoved the box into her sweater pocket. 

An hour later, Joyce dropped El and Will at the Wheeler’s. “I’ll pick you up at ten o’clock,” she said, waving them goodbye and backing out of the driveway. 

El and Will raced inside and down to the basement where Mike, Max, Lucas, and Dustin waited. “Sorry we’re late,” Will said. “My mom took her time.”

Mike put his arm around El as she plopped down next to him on the couch. 

“So what’re we doing?” Lucas asked. 

“How about the arcade?” Max said.

Dustin grimaced. “It’s too cold. I refuse to ride my bike in below freezing temperatures. Plus my mom dropped me off.”

“Well what can we do?” Lucas complained. “I hate winter. Can’t do anything.”

“If there was snow, we could do things,” Max said.

“But there’s not. Mike, how long before you’re done with the campaign?”

“Still working on it.”

“It’s been a month!”

“I’ve got schoolwork to do!”

“What if we play a board game?” Will asked. They all looked at each other and shrugged, nodding.

The group poured over the stack of games sitting in the corner of the basement.

“Battleship,” Lucas said.

“We have too many people,” Dustin answered. “Monopoly?”

“I hate that game.” Max wrinkled her nose. 

“What about Pictionary?” Will asked.

The group considered this, approving. 

As the teens divided into teams, El wondered how to bring up the ring with her friends. They were so engrossed in discussion and banter, and she usually didn’t feel comfortable interjecting when everyone talked at once. She stuck her hand in her pocket, stroking the box. 

El and Mike paired up. Dustin and Lucas sat across from them, and Will and Max sat diagonal, on the floor. 

They all took turns, pulling cards and drawing pictures for their partners to guess. Will dominated the game. El, not so much. Finally, it was El’s turn to draw a card. She picked one out of the stack, then checked the board to see what color her cube sat on. Red. That meant All Play. When she scanned the card, her eyes grew wide. _Propose_. _I know that one!_ she thought. This could be her chance. As she took the pad of paper and pencil, she began drawing.

“Ring!” Max called out.

“The Lord of the Rings!” said Dustin.

“It’s not going to say Lord of the Rings, dummy!” Lucas countered.

“Wedding,” Mike guessed. 

El had her ring drawn, uncertain what to draw next. What did a proposal even look like? She drew two stick people, one with long hair.

“Wedding!” Dustin yelled.

“I already guessed that,” Mike said. 

“Time’s up,” Will announced.

“Well, what was it?” Max asked.

“Proposal.”

The group hummed in understanding. 

“I have a ring,” El said. “It is a secret ring.” She pulled the box out of her pocket, opening it, as everyone gathered around, wide-eyed.

“Oh my god, Mike proposed to you?” Dustin yelled, earning him a smack on the arm, compliments of Lucas. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Max said. She turned to El. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s Hopper’s. He said it is a secret. For Joyce.”

Max squealed. “I knew it! I _knew_ it! What did I tell you guys? Married by summer!”

Lucas, Dustin, and Mike looked on in confusion.

“What? We had this whole plan. Damn, I have good scheming skills.”

El didn’t have the heart to tell her that she and Will came up with the plan that ultimately got Joyce and Hopper together. 

“Are you sure you’re supposed to have this?” Will asked. “You said it’s a secret?”

El’s face flushed. “Yes, but you can keep a secret. Right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.”

“Can I see it?” Max asked. El passed it to her and Max examined the ring, sliding it onto her finger. “It’s so pretty. And sparkly. Joyce is gonna love it.”

“So does this mean you and Will are gonna be brother and sister?” Dustin asked.

“We pretty much already are,” Will answered. 

“Okay, but what if they have a baby?” Dustin asked. “Oh god, they’re going to have _sex_.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “They already _live_ together, idiot.”

El shared a look of understanding with Will. They _were_ going to have a baby, but not in the way Dustin suggested. Joyce and Hopper planned on adopting a baby. Jonathan’s pregnant friend from college had decided to give hers up for adoption. El smiled to herself, tenderness swelling inside of her. She knew adoption. It held a special place in her heart. 

“I just mean, your mom is hot, Will. You know, for someone that old. Hopper’s a lucky bastard.” Dustin made a purring noise by touching his tongue to his two front teeth, something that startled El every time he did it. 

Several people chucked the couch’s pillows at Dustin.

“Hopper told me about sex,” El announced. The party looked at her, silent. 

Lucas spoke up. “What did he—”

“Don’t answer. Come with me,” Mike said, taking El’s hand and leading her up the stairs, then up the second set of stairs and to his room. He closed the door and turned to face her. “You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to.”

“I know.”

“I just—sometimes they can be assholes. The best friends you could ever have, but assholes.”

“Mike. You do not need to protect my feelings. I am fine.”

Mike smiled, tilting his head and looking at the ground before looking back up at El. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mike.” El leaned in and touched her lips to his, stirring up a million tiny grasshoppers inside her stomach.

When they pulled apart, Mike’s lips quirked up into a smile. “What did Hopper tell you, anyway?”

El’s hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle giggles. “We talked about when I am ready.”

Mike’s face turned as white as the pillow on his floor. “Uh, oh, um…I, um, uhhh…”

El wrapped her arms around Mike’s neck and explored his eyes. “I am not. Not yet.”

Mike let out a breath, trembling. “Me neither. Not yet.”

They stayed, frozen in place, eyes never leaving the other. As they their lips moved to close the space between them, a shout from downstairs sent them springing apart and Mike’s head into the door. “Ah, shit,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Are you okay?” El ran her hand along his skull, searching for a bump.

“I’m fine. Come on.” Mike turned around and opened the door, leading El back downstairs.

“Where were you?” Dustin asked. The rest of the gang stood around the kitchen island, eating snacks Mike’s mom had fixed for them. 

“Just talking,” Mike said.

“More like making out,” Lucas said, closing his eyes and smacking his lips. 

Mike scowled. “Grow up.”

When El returned home that evening, she crept into Joyce’s room to place the ring box back into its proper hiding spot. As she closed the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Everything had worked out just fine. Hopper wouldn’t find out she took the ring without his permission. 

A couple days later, as El sat at the desk in her bedroom, struggling with her homework, Hopper appeared at the open door, knocking. “Yes?” El asked.

“Can I come in?”

She nodded.

Hopper sauntered over to her bed, sitting down. “I need to talk to you about something. I know you’ve been in my suit coat.”

El’s eyes darted toward the ground as she clasped her hands together, fidgeting. She’d been so careful. How did he know?

“Care to tell me what happened?”

“I’m sorry. I was so happy. I wanted to show my friends. I took it over to Mike’s house. I showed them. I put it back. How did you know?”

“El, first of all, friends don’t lie. We’ve said that so many times. I try my best to earn your trust, and I know I’ve failed, but I really do try. Recently, though, I feel like you’ve been deceitful.”

“Deceitful?”

“Yeah, it means to lie. Not by making a mistake, but on purpose.”

El averted her eyes. She didn’t want to see his crinkled brow or the way his eyes clouded over when he experienced disappointment. Because that’s what this was. Not anger. Not even annoyance. No, she had let him down. 

“Listen, kid, I know you just turned fifteen. I was that age, once. We make bad decisions. Don’t think about the consequences sometimes. Hell, it took me many years to figure that one out. I just need you to start taking ownership of your actions, and I need you to find my ring.”

El’s head flew up. “Find the ring?”

Hopper opened the empty box. 

“But—but I put it back! I know I did!”

“Well, it’s not here. And I haven’t moved it.”

El thought back to the other day when she went to Mike’s. She’d kept the box in her pocket. She opened it up to show the party. Max asked to see it. She put it— _oh, no!_ She hadn’t gotten it back from Max. 

“I will find it. You can trust me,” El told Hopper. 

“As soon as possible, please.”

El rushed out into the other room and straight to the phone. She dialed Max’s number, listening to it ring. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Finally, someone picked up, heavy metal blaring in the background. “Whaddaya want?” the voice barked. _Billy._

“Is Max there?”

“ _What?_ ”

“Is Max there?” El yelled. 

“Max! It’s one of your stupid friends!” Billy screamed. A few seconds passed, then Max picked up the phone.

“Hello? Billy, turn that shit down! I’m gonna come over there with my fucking nail bat if you don’t turn it down!” The other end got quieter. “Hello? Who is this?”

“El.”

“Oh, hey El! Sorry about Billy. He’s a loser. What’s up?”

“Do you have Hopper’s ring?”

“The ring? No, I gave it back to you. Why?” Max asked.

“It is gone.”

“Oh, shit. That’s not good. I did give it back to you, right?”

“I don’t remember,” El said. 

“Billy!” Max screamed, away from the receiver, but still loud enough to make El flinch. “I need you to drive me to my friend’s house.” Silence. “Yes! It’s important!” Another pause. “I don’t really give a shit. You owe me for a million years, remember?” Max lifted her hand from the receiver. “Okay, he’s going to take me to you, then to Mike’s. We’re gonna find that ring.”

El hung up, wringing her hands. She wasn’t supposed to go out on school nights, and especially not in Billy Hargrove’s car. She’d just finished talking to Hopper about trust and telling the truth. Hopper might let her go over there to look for the ring, but not this late and definitely not in Billy’s car. _This is the last thing_ , El told herself. She searched her room, finding pillows to put underneath her comforter in the shape of a person. She made sure to go to Will’s room and tell him that she wasn’t feeling well and not to disturb her. Then, El got her shoes and coat on, sneaking out of her window. 

Billy’s car wasn’t exactly quiet, which prompted El to glance back at the house as she got in. He drove much too fast, and El clutched the door handle as they curved around a bend. When they got to Mike’s house, Max instructed Billy to wait in his car down the street, and the girls made their way up the drive. “We did not tell Mike we were coming,” El said.

“Nope. But it looks pretty easy to shimmy up to the roof.” El remembered Mike mentioning something about boys visiting Nancy that way, and she blushed at the thought of sneaking into Mike’s room. 

Max made her way up first, then grabbed El’s hands to help her up. When they peered into Mike’s room, they saw him sitting at his desk, hunched over his homework. Max rapped at the window. Mike’s head spun toward them, mouth open before his body relaxed. He got up from his chair and lifted his window. “What the hell are you guys doing here? My mom’ll kill me if she finds out I have two girls in my room at ten o’clock.”

El laughed at that, knowing how easy it was to sneak around under Karen’s nose. 

“We need to find Hopper’s ring. It got left here somehow,” Max said as she crawled over the threshold, dropping her feet to the ground. El followed.

“Well, I don’t know how I’m going to get you guys down into the basement without my mom seeing,” Mike said.

“Figure it out,” Max challenged him.

The three teens snuck down the stairs and peered around the corner. Mike’s dad reclined in his La-Z-Boy, snoring. Mike’s mom washed dishes in the kitchen. Mike ushered El and Max around the corner and out of sight before entering the kitchen. “Mom?”

“What are you still doing up? It’s a school night,” Karen said.

“I know. I was finishing my homework. I think I heard Holly calling for you."

Karen threw down her rag and sighed, glancing at Ted. “Girl is six-years-old and too big for this,” she said, marching toward the stairs.

“Okay, I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Mom.” Mike, El, and Max rushed to the basement, closing the door behind them. 

The three friends spent an hour tearing the basement apart. In all honesty, some of the time was spent goofing around, but most of it involved turning over couch cushions, looking under furniture, and digging around. The ring did not turn up. 

At eleven-fifteen, El slumped onto the couch in defeat. “What will I do?” she moaned. From her vantage point, she swore she saw something catch the light. She stood up, walking to the floor vent and there, wedged in between the grates, the ring rested. El carefully pried it out and held it up in victory. “Found it!”

“Okay, let’s go before someone catches us,” Max said. The three climbed the stairs, and Mike peered out onto the dark first floor. 

“Mom must’ve gone to bed. Come on.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” El told Mike. 

“Not if I see you first,” he said. 

“I’m standing right here,” Max said, waving her hand between the two. “Let’s go.” As Max and El made their way down the street, breath freezing on their lips, it didn’t take long to see that Billy had left. “Fucking asshole,” Max said. “What a douchebag.”

El crossed her arms over herself, shivering. “What now?”

“I guess we go back to Mike’s?”

When the girls got back to Mike’s house and climbed up to the window, they found his room dark. Max rapped at the window, but no one came. “I think maybe I can jimmy it open,” Max said. “That is, if he left it unlocked.” She pressed her fingers to the glass, forcing them upward. The window barely budged, but enough to where Max could just squeeze her fingers into the crack at the bottom and pull it up. She and El climbed inside and lowered themselves to the floor. 

“Mike? Mike, wake up!” Max whispered. Mike startled, then sat up, tangling in the sheets before falling to the floor with a thud. Max shrieked. “Oh my god oh my god,” she cried, covering her eyes. 

El bit her lip, attempting to avert her eyes, but they kept returning to Mike. In the glow of the moon, she could make out a silhouette, quickly coming into focus as her eyes adjusted. Mike was in his underwear. _Mike sleeps in his underwear._ El had seen him in a swimsuit, but this seemed different, somehow. 

“What the—what—turn around!” Mike hissed. As he untangled himself from the sheets, he wrapped them around himself and attempted to throw his clothes back on, tripping on his pants and crashing to the floor once more. 

El giggled, covering her mouth.

“My mom’s probably going to come in here any minute. Get in the closet!”

El remembered the closet. It was not her favorite place, but at least she had Max with her this time.

Sure enough, Karen knocked on Mike’s door, and without waiting for a response, opened it. “Are you okay? I heard a bunch of loud noises and what sounded like screaming?”

“Yeah, Mom. I fell out of bed. Dreaming. Sorry.”

“Why is the window open?”

“I was hot?”

“Mike, our heating bill’s going to skyrocket!” She rushed over, shutting the window. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Okay,” Mike mumbled. “Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Yes. Goodnight.” Karen left, closing the door behind her. 

After a minute, just to make sure his mom had actually gone back to her room, Mike opened the closet door to let the girls out. “What the hell are you doing?” He couldn’t meet El’s eyes.

“Billy left. We had to come back,” Max answered. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Mike asked.

“I don’t know. Can we crash here tonight?” Max asked.

“I’ll call Hopper,” El said. 

Mike and Max twisted their heads toward her. “Are you sure?” Max asked. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“It’s okay. I will be the one to get in trouble.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

The three tiptoed down the dark stairs and to the phone where El dialed Joyce’s number. She knew Joyce wouldn’t answer it in the middle of the night, still anxious from all the phone calls received two years before. El only hoped Hopper would answer, if one could call it hoping. 

On the fourth ring, Hopper did answer. “Hmh who is this?” Hopper grunted. His voice sounded deeper just woken up, somehow. 

“It’s—it’s El.”

Silence. “El? What—where are you?”

“At Mike’s.”

Hopper’s voice immediately changed from garbled to crisp as the winter air. “Are you okay? I’m coming to get you. Wait there.” And with that, El heard a click. She placed the phone back on the hook. 

“What did he say?” Max asked.

“He said he will come. Then he hung up.”

“Shit, I’m dead,” Mike said. “Hopper’s going to murder me. This is my last night on earth.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Max said. 

“Go to bed. I will handle it,” El told him. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please go.”

Ten minutes later, El heard Hopper’s Blazer pull into the driveway. She and Max tiptoed outside, walking over to the truck and getting in.

“Max?” Hopper seemed surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“It is not what you think.” El started. “We came to look for the ring.”

Hopper breathed a sigh of relief. “ _Oh_. I thought—”

“I know,” El said. 

“That still doesn’t mean you’re not in trouble.”

“I know that, too.”

They dropped Max off at her place, and Hopper promised not to tell her parents, understanding the precarious situation with her stepfather. 

Back on the road, Hopper turned to El. “Didn’t we just have this talk earlier tonight? About how I need to be able to trust you?”

“Yes.”

“So why did you sneak off?”

“You said find the ring. Fast.”

“I didn’t mean tonight.”

El dropped her head. “I did not want to worry.”

“I understand that. So, did you find it?”

El pulled the ring out of her pocket, holding it up. Hopper took it from her hand and placed it in his jacket. 

“What now?” El asked.

“For starters, you’re grounded. I don’t know from what and for how long, yet. Secondly, I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can trust you again.”

El nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. Grounding, she could take, but losing Hopper’s trust hurt more than anything. 

Hopper noticed. “Hey, kid, come here,” he said, pulling her into a side-hug. “I may not be able to trust you right now, but I still love you. And I’m glad you’re not hurt. That’s all I worried about on the way over. Forget the ring. I couldn’t stop thinking about if Mike had hurt you, and it about killed me.”

“Mike would not hurt me.”

Hopper sighed. “I know you think that, but as your dad, I see it from a different perspective.”

El’s mouth turned upward at Hopper’s use of _dad_. It wasn’t often the word passed his lips. 

“Just—don’t do anything stupid, anymore. M’kay?”

“I will try not to.” They both had a chuckle at that, knowing full well they’d both continue to make stupid choices from time to time. 

“Okay. Deal.” Hopper ruffled her hair as they pulled up to their house, exhausted and ready to sleep.


End file.
